The SF-9 Pirate was the Southern Cross’ first space fighter, employed by its forces after the REF left Earth for Tirol. The Southern Cross needed to expand its forces to fill the holes left in the Earth's defences by the departure of the REF. Cost and ease of manufacture were the primary requirements of the new fighter. The end result of this program was the SF-9A Pirate. The Pirate had a layout somewhat reminiscent of the REF’s Vampire fighter, with a long fuselage, wide rear wings and wing-mounted engines. The plane’s sole armament consisted of a pair of light lasers mounted in a traversable belly turret.

The SF-9 Pirate never saw wide action, as it was employed almost entirely during peacetime. The ASC Began replacing the Pirate in service with the VF-3A Logan as soon as more of the mecha became availible. Some Pirates did go up against the Masters in the earliest days of the Second Robotech War, but were completely withdrawn from service by 2030. The Pirate was never well-liked by its pilots, who felt that it was under-armed and under armoured.

Some reports indicate the existence of a variant of the Pirate, of which only a single prototype existed, that sacrificed most of the plane's internal reaction mass storage for the inclusion of a Space Hargun as an escape vehicle. This prototype was reportedly used, and destroyed, during the defeat of B.D. Andrews and his unsuccessful coup and assassination attempt on Minister Donald Embry in Tokyo, just before the arrival of the Robotech Masters.

RPG STATS

M.D.C. BY LOCATION:

   	Cannon turret			25
	*Wings (2)			50 each
	Tail Fins (4)			20 each
	*Thrusters (2, rear)		50 each
	Renforced crew compartment	50
	**Main Body			100

*Destroying one wing or thruster will send the aircraft into dive in the atmosphere. The pilot’s only chance for survival is to eject. Destroying one wing in space will destroy the thruster in the wing, reducing the aircraft’s speed by 50% and giving it -3 to dodge, and will prevent re-entry. Destroying both wings will immobilise the aircraft.

**Depleting the MDC of the main body will destroy the aircraft. If the re-enforced pilot’s compartment is still intact, the pilot can survive for up to 6 hours on emergency oxygen in space. In the atmosphere, the plane will be destroyed, and the pilot must eject to survive.

SPECIFICATIONS

Bonuses: +1 to strike, +7 to dodge

WEAPON SYSTEMS

1. Two E-19 Laser Cannons. The laser cannons are mounted in a turret underneath the fighter with a full 360 degree arc of rotation. These are the Pirate’s only weapons.
• Purpose: Assault/Anti-aircraft
• Range: 1200m
• Mega-Damage: 3D6 MD each.
• Rate of Fire: Equal to the pilot's combined number of attacks. Cannons may be fired separately or linked together (both blasts count as one attack.)
• Payload: Effectively unlimited.

STANDARD EQUIPMENT FOR THE PIRATE:

• Radar: Range: 160 km. Standard operation.
• Heat & Radiation Shields: Special shielding prevents the penetration of life threatening heat and radiation. A radiation detection and alarm system are linked with the shields and will sound an alarm if there is a rupture in the shields and what the levels of radiation are.
• Radio/Video Communications: Wide band, directional radio and video telecast capabilities. Range: 1000km, or can be boosted by satellite.
• Laser Targeting System: Close range; 1 km
• Combat Computer: Calculates, stores & monitors data on the control panel computer screen or Heads-up display

Designers Notes

Japanese Name: Puruuto (Pluto?) Megazone 23, Part 1

Episodes Seen in: Robotech The Movie: The Untold Story

The info on the Pirate is pretty minimal. All of the info here comes from the Robotech Technical Files. The Space Hargun-carrying version was created for Robotech The Movie and has no Japanese counterpart.